In its 2021/22 financial year, the office of the FAIS Ombud indicated that it had reduced the number of active property syndication complaints to just (sic) 1004 cases, from a starting point of around 1300. The Ombud re-committed to whittling away at this list over the following period; but instead of pushing ahead with these decades-old matters, it opted to drop a bombshell on the financial advice industry. Mid-July 2023 it became clear that the Ombud would be closing all historic property syndication matters without adjudicating them, and was in the process of communicating same to affected stakeholders.